Digital transformation of the insurance industry
DIGITAL REPORT 2021
MARSH
Digital transformation of the insurance industry
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Alistair Fraser-Hawkins (Left) Adam Kemmis Betty (Right)
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UK Corporate CEO Alistair Fraser-Hawkins and Digital Leader Adam Kemmis Betty of Marsh insurance brokers discuss a digital transformation built on 150 years of history
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ossibility. A word you hear a lot in insurance circles when it comes to managing risk, but at Marsh it is far more than an empty mantra – it’s something the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor has lived and breathed for more than 150 years. Now, the possibility is also the digital opportunity, which means serving commercial and individual clients better and connecting Marsh’s 40,000 colleagues across 130 countries in a new hybrid workplace. Marsh is renowned for leveraging data, technology, and analytics to help reduce clients’ total cost of risk and that move to a digital mindset has only been accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alistair Fraser-Hawkins is the Chief Executive Officer of the UK Corporate business at Marsh, which helps Middle Market clients with their risk and insurance needs. “Marsh is the world's leading risk and insurance advisor and we work with clients across all segments of industry, all sizes of clients from the very smallest to the very largest, working with them to identify risk, understand what risk is involved in their business, and helping to design a risk management and insurance programme that satisfies their needs and allows them to transact their business,” says Fraser-Hawkins. The company has been in business for 150 years and continues to respond to the
world’s most pressing challenges. The recent pandemic was no exception. “2020 was a year like no other,” admits Fraser-Hawkins. “For us it brought risk to the forefront of conversations with clients at boardroom level. “Many companies now look at not just the risks they can see but at those intangible risks that perhaps historically we would have thought are very rare and would have limited impact. We’ve also seen that risk isn't just a local issue – it could be a global issue and organisations can be affected by risks across the world.” Fraser-Hawkins believes the global lockdowns also helped further solidify Marsh as a “global family”. He witnessed increased interaction across the globe in terms of how Marsh helped clients through the pandemic and equally a real shift in terms of their own ability to transact in a digital and virtual sense without dropping the level of service delivered to clients. “Interestingly, I think it actually brought us closer together as a global business,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “The collaboration we see across geographies, across business units, was accelerated despite the fact that it was challenging for all of our colleagues across all the countries we operate in. It was a very challenging but pivotal year that sets us up for the next 150 years.” www.marsh.com
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Marsh: Digital transformation of the insurance industry
Putting people first Fraser-Hawkins talks at length about the people within the business. Marsh is, he says, a people business, which clients appoint for the insight and intellectual capital they bring. He believes that they are now able to benefit from combining the best of both worlds; both video conferencing and faceto-face engagement will enable Marsh to get in front of clients in a more efficient manner. A true hybrid solution, whereby colleagues from Marsh engage with clients face-to-face but also with the ability to bring in expertise from around the globe at a moment’s notice. The pandemic put a strain on everyone, but Fraser-Hawkins says he is proud of how his colleagues adapted to the situation. “Our colleagues have been phenomenal throughout the pandemic,” he says. “Seeing them work from home anduggle challenges such as homeschooling, while continuing 6
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to look after our clients was inspiring. I think the hybrid model that we're adapting going forward means we have the ability to make better work-life choices and support all our colleagues in creating powerful working environments. “We talk about work-life choices rather than work-life balance because at times you have to make one choice over another, but the flexibility that we've embraced as part of working virtually at times means that it's a great opportunity for us to connect. I think we've demonstrated how we continue to focus on an approach of leading with kindness. We appreciated that colleagues were dealing with challenges but we moved almost seamlessly to virtual working. I think a number of us were pleasantly surprised to hear how quickly we were operating as ‘normal’ for being in an abnormal environment.”
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Fraser-Hawkins says that Marsh’s digital transformation journey was already advanced but wouldn't have accelerated further quite as quickly as it did were it not for COVID-19 – a familiar message we hear from many large organisations who had the foresight to implement digital. Marsh is a global business that had crisis plans in place should teams need to move to working from home. Most Marsh employees had the technology at hand already to do just that, as well as the processes and procedures for a seamless transition. “I think it was a very positive experience,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “We've learned some brilliant things. That being said, the office is still very important to us, so the hybrid solution sets us up for a great future.”
ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS TITLE: CEO OF UK CORPORATE AT MARSH INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Alistair is Chief Executive Officer for Marsh’s UK Corporate business. In this role he is responsible for over 520 colleagues across the UK driving strategy, execution and overall growth of Marsh’s Corporate business. He is also a member of the UK Executive Committee and is a main Board Director of Marsh Limited. He has 25 years of experience in the Insurance industry. He began his career in 1995 in the London Market with an underwriter and has spent the last 20 years in Broking.
“ New normal isn't just how you operate your business, it’s also how you lead your business” ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS CEO OF UK CORPORATE, MARSH
EXECUTIVE BIO
Moving the insurance industry to digital From an industry perspective, insurance is probably, it’s fair to say, one that needs to do the most catching up when it comes to digital transformation. Fraser-Hawkins says this is imperative for servicing clients while also being better for business. “The ability to get information to our clients quickly, in an easily digestible format, is imperative if we're going to be an agile business going forward,” says Fraser-Hawkins.
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ADAM KEMMIS BETTY TITLE: DIGITAL LEADER INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Adam leads Digital for Marsh in the UK & Ireland and is responsible for transformation of our client and colleague digital experience, digital innovation and insurtech engagement. Previously a strategy consultant for McKinsey and Oliver Wyman, with a focus on digital and data transformation. Adam was also previously Peru Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action, using data analytics to combat poverty more effectively.
EXECUTIVE BIO
“I think the digital generation is a given and I think as an organisation we are embracing it both here in the UK and globally. It gives us a competitive edge when we are transacting with clients. It's vital for us that we're able to serve the smallest businesses right up to the largest, and the core of that is our digital transformation.” Driving Digital Transformation Adam Kemmis Betty is the Digital Leader for Marsh in the UK & Ireland, responsible for developing and delivering the digital strategy, with a particular focus on client-facing technology.
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“ There's no doubt that the insurance sector as a whole is a laggard when it comes to digital and we're playing catch up” ADAM KEMMIS BETTY DIGITAL LEADER, MARSH UK & IRELAND
He tells us that Marsh’s digital transformation really started in 2018-2019 and has accelerated during the pandemic as clients have moved more activities online. “We've got a journey to go on,” he admits. “The great thing is that we've really got commitment from our business leadership to invest in that journey and to stay the course. Digital transformation of Marsh really has three components to it which correspond to clients, colleagues, and insurers. Firstly, Kemmis Betty is responsible for creating a digital experience for clients. This ranges from enabling small business clients to get insurance quotes and buy insurance in www.marsh.com
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1874
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40,000+ Colleagues worldwide
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Countries operating in
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real time online through to supporting large corporate clients to get real-time access to key data and documents, as well as insights and analytics. The second area is about transforming internal processes – something Marsh calls its operational excellence programme. “That's not just about technology,” says Kemmis Betty. “It's got other components but obviously technology is a big part of that, and that includes modernising some of our core technology platforms. We're moving to a low code no code platform in many regions of the world and it also includes using new technology, such as robotic process automation and AI to make some of our processes more efficient.” The third area is how Marsh interacts digitally with insurers. Of course, with digital transformation comes digital risk, and many of Marsh’s clients have transformed their business models, which has created new areas of risk for them. “We've seen a huge increase in interest in our cyber consultancy services helping clients to understand and manage that cyber risk, and also in purchasing cyber insurance to protect them against that risk,” adds Kemmis Betty. “For Marsh, the key benefit from digital transformation is enhancing the client experience. The transformation of our internal processes means we're able to respond to clients’ needs much more quickly. Then the data that we’re able to gain and use through that digital transformation means that we can provide richer insights back to clients which can really help them manage their risk and structure their insurance programmes in the most informed way.” www.marsh.com
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LEADERSHIP STYLE
DID YOU KNOW...
Alistair Fraser-Hawkins shares his view on a more agile leadership style required post pandemic
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“I'm very conscious, as we come out of the pandemic, of the change in leadership style that's going to be needed in organisations. I think leaders now have to be more agile. I think we've seen that over the last 18 months, in terms of your ability to lead teams – they aren't just teams that you sit in front of everyday. They'll be geographically dispersed, they could be different parts of the business. “We're working very hard with our leadership team to give them the skills that are needed to operate in the ‘new normal’ and for
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some people that would be a big shift change, but I think the ability for us and our success to lead with agility will be a defining factor for us going forward – not only in leading our clients but leading our colleagues as well. “New normal isn't just how you operate your business, it’s also how you lead your business, and we want leaders who are able to lead in both physical and virtual environments simultaneously, which is a different skill set. “I think that's a great opportunity for us as an organisation to really define ourselves as a continued global leader in this field by having a different style of leadership.”
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It’s not just about the benefits of course, and Kemmis Betty does highlight adapting to change as the biggest challenge when it comes to digital transformation. He says the sheer volume of change and level of investment that Marsh is making across all these initiatives means colleagues require support to adapt to new processes and new ways of working at a time when the business is growing – plus of course managing all of that while also trying to serve clients and gauge the right pace of transformation. “The advice I would give to any client or organisation embarking on a digital transformation is really to stay laserfocused on the end-user experience,” says Kemmis Betty. “That's how the big tech firms have created really successful applications – that ruthless focus on the user experience that's difficult to do in a large organisation where you've got many different stakeholders with different opinions. The way to do it is by adopting a truly agile approach.” Disruptive insurance Many people would never believe they would hear the next sentence: it’s an exciting time to be working in insurance right now. That is obvious speaking with both Kemmis Betty and Fraser-Hawkins. Previously there was a much clearer distinction between traditional tech suppliers who would provide platforms or services for the large incumbents and insurtechs who were digital attackers competing with those incumbents. Now that's evolving, particularly as many of the insurtechs have pivoted their business models to be more about partnership and collaboration with the incumbents – which opens up exciting areas of opportunity for large organisations like Marsh.
“The thing I'm hoping for most of all is increased diversification of talent within the insurance sector,” says Kemmis Betty. “I think if we're going to be successful as a business and as an industry overall in innovating and disrupting the traditional way of doing things and using new technology, that means that we've got to attract and retain new talent that we haven't traditionally been able to do. I think if we achieve that it will go a long way to modernising the sector.” “There's no doubt that the insurance sector as a whole is a laggard when it comes to digital and we're playing catch up. When we started, we could see that some of our competitors were moving faster than us but now, with the investments that we've made, particularly in new talent, we firmly believe that puts us ahead of the competition and really gets us on the right path of leading the insurance sector towards a more digital future.”
“It's vital for us that we're able to serve the smallest businesses right up to the largest, and the core of that is our digital transformation” ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS CEO OF UK CORPORATE, MARSH
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The final word has to go to Fraser-Hawkins as he looks to a brighter future in the aftermath of COVID-19. The last 18 months have been turbulent for everybody and not just from a professional perspective, but also from a personal one. “The next 18 months will be exciting,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “I think we're already seeing industries booming. I think there will be some challenges. “The insurance industry has a responsibility, in my opinion, to support the business community to enable them to rebuild their business and thrive.
“I think that's our real test – that we are an industry that is seen to be absolutely supporting growth in the economy and supporting customers, some of whom have completely changed their business models to make sure they've got the necessary insurance protection. This enables them to focus on what they do best, which is running their own business and let us worry about their risk and insurance needs.”
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